This creamy Tuscan chicken with gnocchi makes a delicious family-friendly dish. Tender and juicy diced chicken in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce with spinach, served with gnocchi. You’ll love this quick and easy 30-minute meal!
Tuscan Chicken is a popular dish served in the Olive Garden restaurant. Try my take on it!
This recipe makes a 30-minute comfort food dish! It’s creamy and flavorful. It will be great for adults and kids!
Ingredients
Below you will find information about the ingredients and how to prepare the recipe. For the measurements and detailed instructions scroll down to the printable recipe card.
Here’s what you need to make this delicious 30-Minute dinner:
- Chicken breasts – chicken tenders would also be great.
- I recommend using jarred ‘soft’ sun-dried tomatoes for this recipe, not the dry ones. They are more flavorful and ready to use (don’t have to be softened). Here you can find all my sun-dried tomato recipes.
- I like to use oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar for this recipe. This way you don’t have to throw it away and it’s infused with lovely herbs and sun-dried tomato flavor.
- Tomato paste adds an additional level of flavor to the sauce.
- Flour – thickens the sauce. Dredging the chicken in flour makes it more juicy. It creates a crispy ‘shell’ outside the chicken and prevents escaping the moisture from the meat.
- If you don’t want to use wine, you can omit it and add broth with a little lemon juice to the sauce (see this recipe for chicken zucchini pasta with creamy lemon sauce). Wine adds flavor and acidity to the sauce so you need to use something sour instead, that will cut through the richness of the cream, or the sauce will be too heavy.
- Instead of Italian seasoning, you can use French seasoning (Herbes de Provence) or a mix of basil, rosemary, thyme, and oregano.
- Instead of gnocchi, you could also serve this dish with pasta. Instead of buying ready-to-eat gnocchi, you could make these easy ricotta gnocchi.
- You can omit the spinach and use a smaller amount of fresh basil leaves instead. I don’t recommend using frozen spinach – it’s too chewy.
- What you could also add: some cherry tomatoes to the sauce, diced red bell pepper, you can sprinkle the sauce with crispy bacon bits.
How to make creamy Tuscan chicken step by step
STEP 1: Cook the gnocchi (1 lb / 450g) according to package instructions. I had fresh gnocchi, so I pan-fried them for 2-3 minutes until browned. You can also boil them for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
Prepare your ingredients: cut the chicken (1lb/450g) into bite-sized pieces, chop the onion (2 medium), finely chop the garlic (4 cloves) (do not use a garlic press or the garlic flavor may be too harsh), chop the sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces (you should have 1/3 cup), grate the Parmesan (1/2 cup), wash and dry the spinach (a large handful).
STEP 2: In a large bowl, combine 2 Tbsp flour, spices (1 ts basil, 1/2 ts oregano, 1/2 ts paprika, 1/4 ts onion, and 1/4 ts garlic powder), 3/4 ts salt, and 1/8 ts pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
STEP 3: Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides (it doesn’t have to be completely cooked through). You can cook it in 1 batch or if you want to get a better browning on the chicken, cook it in two batches. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
STEP 4: Add 1 Tbsp butter and onion to the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
STEP 5: Add 1 Tbsp tomato paste and 1/2 Tbsp flour. Cook for a minute.
Add the wine. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat until almost evaporated.
STEP 6: Add 1 cup broth.
STEP 7: Add 3/4 cup cream and 1/8 ts paprika. Cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce is thickened.
STEP 8: Add the parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is thickened a little bit more. Season the sauce with salt and pepper if needed.
STEP 9: Add the chicken back to the pan and cook in the sauce until cooked through (if the chicken was already cooked through, add it with cooked gnocchi and spinach).
STEP 10: Add the cooked gnocchi and spinach. Cook over low heat for about a minute or until the spinach is wilted.
Enjoy!
Storage
This dish reheats well! Store it in the fridge for up to 2-3 days and reheat in a pan.
More quick and easy dinner recipes
- Tuscan Chicken Pasta – a similar recipe to this one but a little bit different. The sauce is made without tomato paste, the chicken is cut into fillets and served with pasta. We love both of these recipes! You may also like our Tuscan chicken soup.
- Chicken Chow Mein
- Bacon and Pea Pasta
- Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
- Pizza Quesadilla
- Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap
Did you make this recipe? RATE THE RECIPE or tell me in the COMMENTS how you liked it! You can also add a photo of your dish. It would make me very happy and will help other readers. Thank you!!
Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Gnocchi
Ingredients
for the chicken:
- 2 tablespoons oil from the sun-dried tomatoes jar or regular vegetable frying oil
- 1 lb (450g) chicken breast
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
for the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 2 medium onions
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 tablespoon flour
- 1/3 cup (80ml) dry white wine
- 1 cup (240ml) chicken broth
- 3/4 cup (180ml) heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 cup (45g) grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
additionally:
- a large handful fresh spinach
- 1 lb (450g) potato gnocchi
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Instructions
- Cook the gnocchi according to package instructions. I had fresh gnocchi, so I pan-fried them for 2-3 minutes until browned. You can also boil them for 2-3 minutes. Set aside.
- Prepare your ingredients: cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, chop the onion, finely chop the garlic (do not use a garlic press or the garlic flavor may be too harsh), chop the sun-dried tomatoes into smaller pieces, grate the Parmesan, wash and dry the spinach.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, spices (basil, oregano, paprika, onion and garlic powder), salt and pepper. Add the chicken and toss to coat.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When hot add the chicken and cook until browned on both sides (it doesn’t have to be completely cooked through). You can cook it in 1 batch or if you want to get a better browning on the chicken, cook it in two batches. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
- Add the butter and onion to the pan. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the tomato paste and 1/2 Tbsp of flour. Cook for a minute.
- Add the wine. Cook for a couple of minutes over medium heat until almost evaporated.
- Add the broth, cream, and paprika. Cook for a couple of minutes until the sauce is thickened.
- Add the parmesan and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the cheese is melted and the sauce is thickened a little bit more. Season the sauce with salt and pepper if needed.
- Add the chicken back to the pan and cook in the sauce until cooked through (if the chicken was already cooked through, add it with cooked gnocchi and spinach).
- Add the cooked gnocchi and spinach. Cook over low heat for about a minute or until the spinach is wilted.
- Enjoy!
2 Comments
Dietrich
5 December 2024 at 17:53Great recipe! We like it for lunch and can eat two days from it. I substitute cream with coconut milk. Fits better into our dietary efforts 🙂
Aleksandra
5 December 2024 at 18:01I’m glad you liked the recipe, thank you for leaving the comment!